


Treasure Lost

by FleetSparrow



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 11:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16973487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetSparrow/pseuds/FleetSparrow
Summary: Tim is hired by the Waynes to take their son Damian on an expedition into the desert.  But Damian's not just there to find pottery.  He's on a mission and Tim's caught in the middle of it.





	Treasure Lost

**Author's Note:**

> An old fic from 2014 from an AU prompt about Damian and Tim as treasure hunters. It ended up being a little bit more Agatha Christie-1920s-y.

The Waynes were weird, Tim decided.  When they had come to his parents– Jack and Janet, the famous Drake duo– looking for a crew for this birthday present of an excavation for their son, Jack had suggested Timothy.  "He may have never led a dig before, but he had been out on them since birth,“ Jack had said, slapping Tim’s back jovially.  "Once we found him teething on the head of a canopic jar!”  Somehow this mildly embarrassing piece of information was enough to convince the Waynes to not only provide Tim with full and unlimited funding, but also to send their only child off to the far corners of the globe with him.  Alone.

So, while his parents were out on a dig in the Mayan highlands, Tim was here, sweating under the hot Egyptian sun while the youngest Wayne sat in his shaded tent and glared at him from afar.

Oh yes, Tim was well aware of him.  Damian had done nothing but watch him since the moment they boarded the plane to Cairo.  Yet, outside of a few terse answers to questions, they boy never said more than three words to Tim.  He supposed he should be grateful; patrons usually couldn’t wait to inject themselves into every part of a dig, always picking up things they shouldn’t and messing up the cataloguing.  Damian never did that.  He just watched like a falcon waiting for its prey.  Tim had a sneaking suspicion he was that prey.

On the eighth night of their excavation, Damian sought him out.  Tim was doing some routine translations when the force of Damian’s entrance nearly scattered his papers.  He turned his chair around, leaning back as he took Damian in.  He eyed the rolled up scroll in the boy’s hand, but said nothing about it, opting instead to smile pleasantly at him.  "Mr. Wayne.  What can I do for you?“

Damian scowled at him.  "I’ve been pleased with your work, Drake.  I think it’s time you know why I hired you.”

Tim bit back the correction that actually Damian’s  _parents_  hired him and no matter how adult Damian talked, he was still only sixteen.  Not that Tim was much older, but at least he had finished high school.  "I thought it was to lead this expedition.  Am I wrong?“

"Of course,” Damian said, ignoring the way Tim frowned.  "That was only a cover.  My father wouldn’t pay for this if he knew what I really wanted.“

One of Tim’s eyebrows quirked up.  "Oh?  And what’s that?  Getting baked to death in the desert?”

Damian strode forward.  "No, you fool.  This!“  He pushed aside the notes littering Tim’s desk to spread out the scroll he had brought.  "I need your help finding it.”

Tim glared up at him as he gathered his fallen papers.  "I’d say it’s right on my desk.  Congratulations.  It’s been found.“  Damian just glowered at him.  Tim sighed and set aside his papers.  "All right, what is this thing?”

“It’s a map.”

“To?”

“A hidden fortune.  It’s been passed down my mother’s family for generations.  Father locked it away, fearing I would engage Mother’s help in searching for it, but I stole it from him.”  His eyes glittered in the lantern light.  "Grandfather used to tell me stories of this treasure.  He said it held the secret to a power greater than anything else.  We’re very close to it now.  I need your help getting there.“

Tim looked over the map and nodded.  "All right.  I can get a team together by morning and we can start out–”

“No!  No team.  Just you and me.”

Tim looked up at him incredulously.  "That’s ridiculous.  We need a guide who knows the area better.  We need helpers to remove any debris we might find.  We need supplies and water and–“

"No.  Team.”  Damian glared hard at him.  "This has to be a secret.  We can both carry enough water for the two of us, and enough supplies.  If we go for a few hours each night, we should have anything cleared that needs to be.“

"It’s not worth the risk,” Tim said, levelly.

Damian stared at him for a moment, the hardness in his eyes unwavering.  Then, as if realizing that his current tactic wasn’t working, his face softened to something almost pleading.  "This is very important to me, Timothy,“ he said softly.  "This is my birthright.  I need to find it.”

Tim was almost touched by that expression, in the same way one could find a baby cobra adorable.  "Then you’ll do it with a team.  It can be small, but we need more help.“

Damian stamped his foot.  "No, Drake!  It needs to be just the two of us!”  He pouted for a moment before adding, “I’ll have my father pay you double.”

That was ridiculous.  That was a bribe.  That was… some other terrible thing that Tim was sure wouldn’t be justified with the fact that he really enjoyed the idea of having income of his own, but he’d make it work.  "Fine.  You have a deal.“

Damian shook his hand.  "Good.  We leave tonight.”  Before Tim could protest, Damian had gathered his map and left the tent.

The Waynes were  _really_  weird.


End file.
